1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to dispensing equipment and, more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to a pump and package system utilized in dispensing equipment that dispenses food products, such as ice cream, mustard, ketchup, mayonnaise, soup, salad dressing, and the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
The viscosity of food products varies widely and ranges from hard (e.g., ice creams) to semi-liquids (e.g., ketchup and mustard) to liquids (e.g., soups). Hard ice cream typically comes in cartons that are stored in a freezer accessible to ice cream shop employees. An employee manually lifts the ice cream from its carton using a scoop and then places it on a cone or in a dish. The disadvantages of manual dispensing are that the ice cream remains uncovered for long periods and employees often contact the ice cream which is unsanitary.
Ketchup and mustard usually have separate dispensers that consist of a container having a pump. Although employees do not directly dispense ketchup and mustard, an employee must fill the dispensers when they are empty. That results in direct employee contact with both the dispensers and the ketchup and mustard. Furthermore, if the dispensers are not routinely cleaned or are cleaned improperly, an unsanitary condition situation arises.
Employees normally prepare soups on site by mixing a soup concentrate with water. An employee places the soup in a heated cauldron and then ladles the soup into containers for customer consumption. Thus, soups also contact employees and are open to the environment thereby allowing the spread of bacteria and germs.
Accordingly, an apparatus that permits the self-contained dispensing of food products, such as ice cream, mustard, ketchup, mayonnaise, soup, salad dressing, and the like, will improve sanitary conditions in the food service industry.
In accordance with the present invention, a unitary one-piece, disposable package includes a canister for storing a product. The canister includes a fill opening, a fill cap for the fill opening, and a piston for forcing product from the canister. A pump housing formed integrally with the canister contains a progressive cavity pump that pumps product from the canister to an outlet chamber of the pump housing and out an outlet from the chamber.
The pump housing includes an intermediate wall defining a stator chamber. The stator chamber contains a stator of the progressive cavity pump that communicates with the outlet chamber of the pump housing. The progressive cavity pump includes a rotor within said stator having a shaft connectable to a motor drive shaft. The rotor includes a conduit therethrough that communicates with the outlet chamber of said pump housing. The rotor further includes vanes at the opposite end of the rotor shaft that extend into the outlet chamber of the pump housing.
A product dispenser for use with the unitary one-piece, disposable package includes a housing, a chamber in the housing for receiving the package, and a motor within the housing for driving the progressive cavity pump of the package. The product dispenser includes within the housing either a refrigeration unit for refrigerating the chamber or a heating element for heating the chamber. The product dispenser further includes a system mounted within the housing for forcing product from the canister into the pump housing.
An alternative product dispenser includes a housing having a chamber for receiving a product canister wherein the chamber facilitates communication of product from the canister to a pump chamber. A progressive cavity pump mounts within the pump chamber for pumping product from the canister out an outlet from the pump chamber. A motor within the housing drives the progressive cavity pump. The alternative product dispenser includes within the housing either a refrigeration unit for refrigerating the chamber or a heating element for heating the chamber. The product dispenser further includes a system mounted within the housing for forcing product from the canister into the progressive cavity pump.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a unitary one-piece, disposable package with a progressive cavity pump capable of pumping viscous products.
It is another object of the present invention that the package including the progressive cavity pump be inexpensive and disposable.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a dispenser with a progressive cavity pump that pumps product from a disposable canister placed in the dispenser.
Still other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become evident to one of ordinary skill in the art in light of the following.